Mobile terminal capable of localization, localization server and method for localizing the mobile terminal using the localization server

ABSTRACT

A mobile terminal capable of localization, a localization server, and a method for localizing the mobile terminal using the localization server are disclosed. The disclosed localization server includes a control unit configured to control transmissions of visible-light signals from a multiple number of visible-light transmitting devices; and a position computing unit configured to compute a position of a mobile terminal based on time information regarding when the visible-light signals transmitted respectively from the plurality of visible-light transmitting devices were received at the mobile terminal, where the control unit controls the transmissions such that each of the plurality of visible-light transmitting devices sequentially transmits the visible-light signal for a particular first time period with no overlapping of transmission times of the visible-light signals transmitted respectively from the plurality of visible-light transmitting devices.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to Korean Application No.10-2011-0125808 filed on Nov. 29, 2011 and Korean Application No.10-2012-0095048 filed on Aug. 29, 2012, which applications areincorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments of the present invention relate to a mobile terminal capableof localization, a localization server, and a method for localizing themobile terminal using the localization server, more particularly, to amobile terminal capable of localization, a localization server, and amethod for localizing the mobile terminal according to a TDoA (TimeDifference of Arrival) scheme using visible-light signals.

BACKGROUND ART

A visible-light wireless communication system is a next-generationwireless communication technology in which digital signals aretransmitted by controlling the light-emitting properties of an LED(light emitting device) and visible-light signals are received by usinga PD (photodiode). In a visible-light wireless communication system, anLED may function not only as an indoor lighting device, but also as atransmitter for digital signals. Due to its inherent properties of thevisible-light wireless communication system, its coverage area may belimited to a range that can be reached by the visible light, and thequality of the communication channel may be determined by the amount ofvisible light.

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates the structure of a conventionalvisible-light wireless communication system, where drawing (a) of FIG. 1illustrates the structure of a visible-light transceiver, and drawing(b) of FIG. 1 illustrates the structure of a visible-light receiver.

To be more specific, the visible-light transceiver 110 may be composedof an LED 111 that emits visible light, an LED drive circuit 112 thatcontrols the driving of the LED 111, a power source unit 113 thatsupplies power to the LED drive circuit 112, a signal modulator unit 114that modulates digital signals inputted from the outside intovisible-light signals, and a control unit 115 that controls the drivingof the LED drive circuit in accordance with the modulated visible-lightsignals.

Also, the visible-light receiver 120 may be composed of a PD (121) thatdetects the on/off states of the visible light to receive thevisible-light signals, and a signal demodulator unit 122 thatdemodulates the visible-light signals received via the PD 121 intodigital signals.

An existing method of localizing a mobile terminal using visible-lightwireless communication is to have multiple LEDs transmit visible-lightsignals, each including the ID of the respective LED, and to check theIDs in the visible-light signals received by the mobile terminal tomeasure the position of the mobile terminal. Although the existinglocalization method described above may have its advantages in terms ofmaintenance and costs in establishing the system, there may be thedisadvantage of low localization accuracy.

Another method of localizing a mobile terminal using visible-lightwireless communication is found in Xiaohan, et al., “Improved IndoorLocation Estimation Using Fluorescent Light Communication System with aNine-Channel Receiver,” which discloses a method of arranging multiplePDs in a circular formation and measuring the position of the mobileterminal by using the intensities and the incident angles of the visiblelight received from various angles. Although the existing localizationmethod described above may provide higher localization accuracy comparedto the existing method using the IDs of the LEDs, there may be thedisadvantage of high costs associated with establishing the system.

SUMMARY

An aspect of the present invention, devised to resolve the problemsabove, is to provide a mobile terminal capable of localization, alocalization server, and a method for localizing the mobile terminalaccording to a TDoA (Time Difference of Arrival) scheme usingvisible-light signals.

Other objectives of the present invention can be readily derived by aperson skilled in the art from the embodiments of the present inventiondescribed below.

To achieve the objectives above, an embodiment of the present inventionprovides a localization server that includes: a control unit configuredto control transmissions of visible-light signals from a multiple numberof visible-light transmitting devices; and a position computing unitconfigured to compute a position of a mobile terminal based on timeinformation regarding when the visible-light signals transmittedrespectively from the plurality of visible-light transmitting deviceswere received at the mobile terminal, where the control unit controlsthe transmissions such that each of the plurality of visible-lighttransmitting devices sequentially transmits the visible-light signal fora particular first time period with no overlapping of transmission timesof the visible-light signals transmitted respectively from the pluralityof visible-light transmitting devices.

Another embodiment of the present invention provides a mobile terminalcapable of localization that includes: a receiver unit configured toreceive visible-light signals, which are sequentially transmitted from amultiple number of visible-light transceiver devices for a particularfirst time period such that there is no overlapping of transmissiontimes; a time measuring unit configured to generate receiving timeinformation regarding times at which the sequentially transmittedvisible-light signals were received; and a position computing unitconfigured to compute a position of the mobile terminal by using thereceiving time information of the sequentially transmitted visible-lightsignals.

Yet another embodiment of the present invention provides a method forlocalizing a mobile terminal that includes: receiving visible-lightsignals, which are sequentially transmitted from a plurality ofvisible-light transceiver devices for a particular first time periodsuch that there is no overlapping of transmission times; generatingreceiving time information regarding times at which the sequentiallytransmitted visible-light signals were received; and computing aposition of the mobile terminal by using the receiving time informationof the sequentially transmitted visible-light signals.

With certain aspects of the present invention, the position of a mobileterminal can be measured accurately according to a TDoA (Time Differenceof Arrival) scheme using visible-light signals.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates the structure of a conventionalvisible-light wireless communication system.

FIG. 2 schematically illustrates the structure of a localization systemfor a mobile terminal according to a first embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating the overall flow of a method forlocalizing a mobile terminal according to a first embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 illustrate operations in which the control unit in alocalization server according to an embodiment of the present inventiontransmits a transmission instruction message.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of reception strengths of visible-lightsignals measured at a mobile terminal, when the visible-light signalsare transmitted in accordance with a first time period and a second timeperiod as described for FIG. 4 and FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of visible-light signals transmitted bymultiple visible-light transceiver devices for a first time periodaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 illustrates the bit interval of a visible-light signal and thesampling interval of an internal clock counter included in a mobileterminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 schematically illustrates a localization system for a mobileterminal according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram illustrating the overall flow of a method forlocalizing a mobile terminal according to a second embodiment of thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As the present invention allows for various changes and numerousembodiments, particular embodiments will be illustrated in the drawingsand described in detail in the written description. However, this is notintended to limit the present invention to particular modes of practice,and it is to be appreciated that all changes, equivalents, andsubstitutes that do not depart from the spirit and technical scope ofthe present invention are encompassed in the present invention. Indescribing the drawings, like reference numerals are used for likeelements.

Certain embodiments of the present invention will be described below inmore detail with reference to accompanying drawings.

FIG. 2 schematically illustrates the structure of a localization systemfor a mobile terminal according to a first embodiment of the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 2, a localization system 200 according to the firstembodiment of the present invention may include a multiple number ofvisible-light transceiver devices 210, a localization server 220, and amobile terminal 230. The function of each component will be describedbelow in more detail.

The multiple number of visible-light transceiver devices 210 maytransmit or receive visible-light signals. To be more specific, avisible-light transceiver device 210 can include a visible-lighttransmitter unit 211 such as an LED (light emitting diode), fortransmitting visible-light signals, and a visible-light receiver unit212 such as a PD (photodiode) for receiving visible-light signals.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the multiple visible-light transceiver devices210 can be arranged in the ceiling of an indoor space. While FIG. 2illustrates an example in which there are four visible-light transceiverdevices 210 arranged in an array, the number and arrangement of thevisible-light transceiver devices 210 are not thus limited.

The localization server 220 may include a control unit 221 and aposition computing unit 222, to control the transmissions ofvisible-light signals from the multiple visible-light transceiverdevices 210 and compute the position of the mobile terminal 230 based ontime information regarding when the visible-light signals were receivedat the mobile terminal 230. For this purpose, the localization server220 can communicate with the multiple visible-light transceiver devices210 via a wired or wireless connection.

To be more specific, the control unit 221 can include a communicationunit 223, for communicating with the multiple visible-light transceiverdevices 210 in a wired or wireless manner, and a control messagegenerating unit 224, for generating control messages used to control theoperations of the multiple visible-light transceiver devices 210.

The mobile terminal 230 can include a receiver unit 231, for receivingthe visible-light signals transmitted from the multiple visible-lighttransceiver devices 210, a time measuring unit 232, for generatingreceiving time information by measuring the times at which thevisible-light signals are received, and a transmitter unit 233, fortransmitting the receiving time information.

The operation of a localization system 200 according to the firstembodiment of the present invention will be described below in moredetail with reference to FIG. 3 through FIG. 7. For the sake ofconvenience, it will be assumed that the localization server 220 and themultiple visible-light transceiver devices 210 communicate via wiredconnections.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating the overall flow of a method forlocalizing a mobile terminal 230 according to the first embodiment ofthe present invention. The process performed for each step will bedescribed below in more detail.

First, in step S300, the mobile terminal 230 may drive an internal clockcounter equipped in the time measuring unit 232, and in step S302, themobile terminal 230 may transmit a localization request message.

Here, the localization request message can be a visible-light signal,and the localization request message transmitted from the mobileterminal 230 may be received by at least some of the multiplevisible-light transceiver devices 210. In the example shown in FIG. 3,it is assumed that from among the multiple visible-light transceiverdevices 210, the visible-light transceiver device b (210 b) receives thelocalization request message in the form of a visible-light signal.

Afterwards, in step S304, the visible-light transceiver device b (210 b)may forward the localization request message to the localization server220. The forwarded localization request message may be received via thecommunication unit 223 equipped in the localization server 220.

Although it is not illustrated in FIG. 3, if the multiple visible-lighttransceiver devices 210 at this time are also performing datacommunication via visible light with other visible-light communicationdevices (not shown) located in the indoor space, then the datacommunication being performed between the multiple visible-lighttransceiver devices 210 and other visible-light communication devices(not shown) may be frozen, in order to transmit the visible-lightsignals for localizing the mobile terminal 230 as described below.

Continuing with the method, in steps S306 to S314, the localizationserver 220 may, by way of the control unit 221, control thetransmissions of visible-light signals by the multiple visible-lighttransceiver devices 210.

To be more specific, in steps S306 to S314, the control unit 221 canprovide control such that the multiple visible-light transceiver devices210 sequentially transmit the visible-light signals for the duration ofa particular first time period with no overlapping among thetransmission times of the visible-light signals transmitted from therespective visible-light transceiver devices 210. Here, thevisible-light signals can take the form of pilot signals used forlocalizing the mobile terminal 230. Also, the first time period can bethe same or different for all of the multiple visible-light transceiverdevices 210.

Taking a closer look, in step S306, the control unit 221 may generatemessages for instructing the transmissions of visible-light signals(transmission instruction messages) by using the control messagegenerating unit 224, and in steps S308 to S314, the control unit 221 maysequentially transmit the transmission instruction message to each ofthe multiple visible-light transceiver devices 210 through thecommunication unit 223.

In one example, if the distance from each of the multiple visible-lighttransceiver devices 210 to the localization server 220 is the same, thecontrol unit 221 can sequentially send the transmission instructionmessages to the multiple visible-light transceiver devices 210 in anarbitrary order. In another example, if the distance from each of themultiple visible-light transceiver devices 210 to the localizationserver 220 is different, the control unit 221 can sequentially transmitthe transmission instruction messages beginning with the visible-lighttransceiver device 210 nearest to the localization server 220.

Here, the localization server 220 can transmit a distance measurementrequest message to each of the multiple visible-light transceiverdevices 210, receive a distance measurement reply message transmitted byeach of the multiple visible-light transceiver devices 210 incorrespondence to receiving the distance measurement request message,and then compute the distances to the multiple visible-light transceiverdevices 210 by using the differences between the transmission times ofthe distance measurement request message and the reception times of thedistance measurement reply messages (i.e. the round trip times (RTT)).As will be described later on, the differences between the transmissiontimes of the distance measurement request message and the receptiontimes of the distance measurement reply messages can also be used forsynchronizing the times at which the multiple visible-light transceiverdevices 210 transmitted the visible-light signals. Such operation of thelocalization server 220 for measuring distances can also be performedprior to step S300 or prior to step S304.

Also, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the controlunit 221 can determine the times for transmitting the transmissioninstruction messages to the multiple visible-light transceiver devices210, respectively, in consideration of at least one of the distancesfrom the localization server 220 to the multiple visible-lighttransceiver devices 210 and the first time period for each of themultiple visible-light transceiver devices 210. Here, the distances fromthe localization server 220 to the multiple visible-light transceiverdevices 210 can be computed by using one-way trip times (OTT), whichcorresponds to a half of the RTT described above.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the controlunit 221 can determine the times for transmitting the transmissioninstruction messages to the multiple visible-light transceiver devices210, respectively, further considering a particular second time periodfor avoiding overlapping between the visible-light signals transmittedsequentially from the multiple visible-light transceiver devices 210,respectively. Here, the second time period refers to a duration of timeduring which there is no visible-light signal emitted from any of thevisible-light transceiver devices 210, and will be described later on infurther detail.

Continuing with the method, in steps S316 to S322, each of the multiplevisible-light transceiver devices 210 may transmit a visible-lightsignal through the visible-light transmitter unit 211, for the durationof a particular first time period from the time at which the respectivetransmission instruction message was received. Here, since the controlunit 221 sequentially transmitted the transmission instruction messageswith certain intervals in-between, the visible-light signals transmittedby the respective visible-light transceiver devices 210 may not overlap.Thus, the visible-light signals transmitted from a multiple number ofvisible-light transceiver devices 210 can be received withoutinterference at the receiver unit 231 of the mobile terminal 230.

In other words, if the multiple number of visible-light transceiverdevices 210 were to transmit the visible-light signals to the mobileterminal 230 simultaneously, then the multiple number of visible-lightsignals would be received at the mobile terminal 230 simultaneously, sothat the position of the mobile terminal 230 could not be measuredaccurately due to the interference between the visible-light signals. Incontrast, if the multiple visible-light transceiver devices 210 eachtransmit the visible-light signals for a first time period with nooverlapping, as in an embodiment of the present invention, then all ofthe visible-light signals may be received without interference, and itis possible to accurately localize the mobile terminal 230.

Afterwards, in steps S324 to step S330, the mobile terminal 230 maymeasure the time at which each visible-light signal is received, usingthe internal clock counter equipped in the time measuring unit 232. Inother words, in steps S324 to step S330, the mobile terminal 230 maygenerate information regarding the times at which the visible-lightsignals sequentially transmitted by the multiple visible-lighttransceiver devices 210, respectively, were received (receiving timeinformation).

Below, a more detailed description will be provided, with reference toFIG. 4 through FIG. 6, on the operation of the control unit 221 of thelocalization server 220 for transmitting the transmission instructionmessages, performed in steps S308 to S314, the operation of the multiplevisible-light transceiver devices 210 for transmitting the visible-lightsignals, performed in steps S316 to S322, and the operation of themobile terminal 230 for measuring the receiving times of thevisible-light signals, performed in steps S324 to S330.

FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 are for illustrating operations in which the controlunit 221 in a localization server 220 according to an embodiment of thepresent invention transmits a transmission instruction message.

To be more specific, FIG. 4 illustrates the concept of the control unit221 sending the transmission instruction messages for a case where themultiple visible-light transceiver devices 210 are all at the samedistance from the localization server 220, and FIG. 5 illustrates theconcept of the control unit 221 transmitting the transmissioninstruction messages for a case where the multiple visible-lighttransceiver devices 210 are at different distances from the localizationserver 220.

The operation of the control unit 221 for transmitting the transmissioninstruction messages is described below with reference to FIG. 4 andFIG. 5.

First, at point A, the control unit 221 may transmit a transmissioninstruction message to a visible-light transceiver device a (210 a), andat point B, which is after the duration of the OTT_a between thelocalization server 220 and the visible-light transceiver device a (210a), the transmission instruction message may be received by thevisible-light transceiver device a (210 a).

Afterwards, the control unit 221 may predict point D at which totransmit a transmission instruction message to a visible-lighttransceiver device b (210 b), in consideration of the OTT_b between thelocalization server 220 and the visible-light transceiver device b (210b), the first time period during which the visible-light transceiverdevice a (210 a) transmits a visible-light signal, and the second timeperiod for preventing overlapping between the visible-light signalssequentially transmitted from the multiple visible-light transceiverdevices 210, respectively (here, the second time period can be excludedfrom consideration), and may transmit the transmission instructionmessage to the visible-light transceiver device b (210 b) at thepredicted point D.

To be more specific, the control unit 221 may predict point C, which isafter the duration of both the first time period and the second timeperiod from point B, may predict point D, which is earlier than point Cby the OTT_b between the localization server 220 and the visible-lighttransceiver device b (210 b), and then may transmit the transmissioninstruction message to the visible-light transceiver device b (210 b) atthe predicted point D.

Afterwards, point F and point G may be predicted in the same manner asabove, and the control unit 221 may transmit transmission instructionmessages to a visible-light transceiver device c (210 c) and avisible-light transceiver device d (210 d) at point F and point G,respectively.

By the process described above, the visible-light transceiver device 211a through visible-light transceiver device 211 d may sequentiallyreceive the transmission instruction messages, and may emitvisible-light signals when receiving the transmission instructionmessages.

Also, the mobile terminal 230 may generate information on the receivingtimes of the visible-light signals by measuring the times at which thevisible-light signals were received, through steps S324 to S330.

Below, a more detailed description will be provided, with reference toFIG. 6, on the concept of generating the receiving time information,which is information regarding the times at which the visible-lightsignals were received by the mobile terminal 230.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of reception strengths of visible-lightsignals measured at a mobile terminal 230, when the visible-lightsignals are transmitted in accordance with a first time period and asecond time period as described for FIG. 4 and FIG. 5.

For convenience, FIG. 6 is illustrated for an example in which themobile terminal 230 measures the reception strength of visible lightdiscretely via sampling. However, the present invention is not thuslimited, and the mobile terminal 230 can just as well measure thereception strength of visible light in a continuous manner.

Referring to FIG. 6, the mobile terminal 230 may repeatedly perform theoperations of receiving visible-light signals having reception strengthssmaller than a predetermined threshold value and of receivingvisible-light signals having reception strengths greater than thethreshold value. These operations correspond respectively to thetransmissions of visible-light signals for the duration of the firsttime period and non-transmissions of visible-light signals for theduration of the second time period described above.

That is, as already described above, the visible-light transceiverdevices 210 may sequentially transmit visible-light signals during thefirst time period and may not emit visible-light signals during thesecond time period succeeding the first time period, and therefore, thereception strength of visible light measured during a time segmentcorresponding to the first time period may be greater than or equal tothe threshold value, while the reception strength of visible lightmeasured during a time segment corresponding to the second time periodmay be lower than the threshold value.

Thus, as illustrated in FIG. 6, the time segment for the mobile terminal230 associated with receiving visible-light signals may include a timesegment of receiving visible-light signals (hereinafter referred to asthe “receiving time segment”), corresponding to the first time period,and a time segment of not receiving visible-light signals (hereinafterreferred to as the “guard time segment”), corresponding to the secondtime period.

In this case, the time measuring unit 232 of the mobile terminal 230 cangenerate information regarding a time point lying within a time segment,in which visible-light signals having reception strengths greater thanor equal to the threshold value are received, as the receiving timeinformation described above. That is, the information regarding thetimes at which the visible-light signals are received at the mobileterminal 230 can include information on any one time point that lieswithin the time segment in which visible-light signals having receptionstrengths greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold value arereceived.

To be more specific, according to the first embodiment of the presentinvention, the point at which a reception strength that is greater thanor equal to the threshold value is first measured can be computed by themobile terminal 230 as the point at which a visible-light signal isreceived for the corresponding receiving time segment. In other words,the time point within the receiving time segment computed as the pointof receiving a visible-light signal can correspond to the starting pointof the time segment.

Thus, for an example such as that illustrated in FIG. 6 in which thereception strength of visible light is measured discretely, the point atwhich the first reception strength sample 610, 615 is measured in eachreceiving time segment can be computed as the point of receiving thevisible-light signal for the respective receiving time segment.

Also, according to a second embodiment of the present invention, thepoint within a receiving time segment at which the maximum receptionstrength is measured can be computed by the mobile terminal 230 as thepoint at which a visible-light signal is received for the correspondingreceiving time segment. In other words, the time point within thereceiving time segment computed as the point of receiving avisible-light signal can correspond to the point where the maximumreception strength is measured.

Thus, for an example such as that illustrated in FIG. 6 in which thereception strength of visible light is measured discretely, the point atwhich the maximum reception strength sample 620, 625 is measured in eachreceiving time segment can be computed as the point of receiving thevisible-light signal for the respective receiving time segment.

A visible-light signal received at the mobile terminal 230 can be aline-of-sight (LOS) visible-light signal received directly from avisible-light transceiver device 210, or a non-line-of-sight (NLOS)visible-light signal received reflected off an object such as a wall,pillar, etc., after being transmitted from a visible-light transceiverdevice 210.

In this case, since a NLOS visible-light signal, which is received afterbeing reflected off an object, cannot accurately convey the distancebetween the visible-light transceiver device 210 and the mobile terminal230, computing the distance between a visible-light transceiver device210 and the mobile terminal 230 using NLOS visible-light signals cancause errors in localizing the mobile terminal 230.

Thus, according to a third embodiment of the present invention, themobile terminal 230 can compute the receiving time information forvisible-light signals received at the mobile terminal 230 by using onlyLOS visible-light signals from among the visible-light signals receivedwithin a receiving time segment.

Since LOS visible-light signals generally arrive at the mobile terminal230 before NLOS visible-light signals, a receiving time segment can bedivided into a receiving time segment for LOS visible-light signalslocated at the front (hereinafter referred to as the “first receivingtime segment”) and a receiving time segment for NLOS visible-lightsignals located at the rear (hereinafter referred to as the “secondreceiving time segment”).

In this case, the point within the first receiving time segment at whichthe maximum reception strength is measured can be computed by the mobileterminal 230 as the point at which a visible-light signal is receivedfor the corresponding receiving time segment. In other words, the timepoint within the receiving time segment computed as the point ofreceiving a visible-light signal can correspond to the point where themaximum reception strength is measured in the first time segment duringwhich LOS visible-light signals are received.

Thus, for an example such as that illustrated in FIG. 6 in which thereception strength of visible light is measured discretely, the point atwhich the maximum reception strength sample 630, 635 is measured in thefirst receiving time segment included in each receiving time segment canbe computed as the point of receiving the visible-light signal for therespective receiving time segment.

Referring again to FIG. 3, a description is provided below on a methodfor localizing a mobile terminal 230 using a localization server 220according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

In step S332, the mobile terminal 230 may transmit the receiving timeinformation for visible-light signals. Here, the receiving timeinformation itself can also be transmitted in the form of avisible-light signal.

The transmitted receiving time information having the form of avisible-light signal may be received by visible-light receiver units 212equipped in at least one of the multiple visible-light transceiverdevices 210. In FIG. 3, it is assumed that, from among the multiplevisible-light transceiver devices 210, the visible-light transceiverdevice b (210 b) receives the receiving time information in the form ofa visible-light signal.

Afterwards, in step S334, the visible-light transceiver device b (210 b)may send the receiving time information to the localization server 220,and in step S336, the localization server 220 may compute the positionof the mobile terminal 230 using the position computing unit 222.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the positioncomputing unit 222 can compute the position of the mobile terminal 230by using the information regarding times at which the control unit 221transmitted the transmission instruction messages to the multiplevisible-light transceiver devices 210, respectively, the distanceinformation regarding distances between the localization server 220 andthe multiple visible-light transceiver devices 210, and the timeinformation regarding when the visible-light signals transmittedrespectively from the multiple visible-light transceiver devices 210were received at the mobile terminal 230.

To be more specific, the position computing unit 222 may synchronize thetimes at which the multiple visible-light transceiver devices 210respectively transmitted the visible-light signals, based on theinformation regarding the times at which the control unit 221transmitted the transmission instruction messages to the plurality ofvisible-light transceiver devices and the distance information regardingdistances between the localization server 220 and the multiplevisible-light transceiver devices 210, and may afterwards compute theposition of the mobile terminal 230 according to a TDoA method by usingthe differences in the times at which the visible-light signalstransmitted respectively from the multiple visible-light transceiverdevices 210 were received at the mobile terminal 230. Here, the OTT orthe RTT described above can be used for synchronizing the times at whichthe multiple visible-light transceiver devices 210 respectivelytransmitted the visible-light signals.

Afterwards, in step S338, the localization server 220 may send theposition information of the mobile terminal to the visible-lighttransceiver device b (210 b) via the communication unit 223, and in stepS340, the visible-light transceiver device b (210 b) may forward theposition information of the mobile terminal to the mobile terminal 230in the form of a visible-light signal.

In this way, the method for localizing a mobile terminal 230 using alocalization server 220 according to the first embodiment of the presentinvention enables a multiple number of visible-light transceiver devices210 to emit visible light to a mobile terminal 230 for a particularduration of time with no overlapping, thus preventing interferencebetween visible-light signals at the mobile terminal 230 and making itpossible to accurately measure the position of the mobile terminal 230.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of visible-light signals transmitted bymultiple visible-light transceiver devices 210 for a first time periodaccording to an embodiment of the present invention, showing an exampleof a visible-light signal pattern defined in the IEEE802.17.7 standardfor visible-light communication.

Referring to FIG. 7, inverted 4-PPM (pulse position moderation) asdefined in IEEE802.17.7 expresses one bit by a transmission ornon-transmission (emission or non-emission) of visible light and definesone symbol with four bits. Each symbol can follow any one of the fourvisible-light emission patterns illustrated in FIG. 7.

Applying this to the present invention, the first period during whichthe multiple visible-light transceiver devices 210 emit visible-lightsignals can correspond to a symbol duration defined by four bits. Inother words, the first period can be composed of four sub-periods, avisible-light signal can be composed of two or more bits correspondingto two or more sub-periods, and the two or more bits can each have oneof a high level value and a low level value, the high level valuecorresponding to a transmission of visible light, and the low levelvalue corresponding to a non-transmission of visible light. Of course,the present invention is not thus limited, and the number of sub-periodsforming the first period and the number of bits forming a visible-lightsignal can be an arbitrary value of 2 or higher.

In order for the visible-light signals transmitted from the multiplevisible-light transceiver devices 210 to be received separately, it ispreferable that there be no overlapping of the first period for eachsignal, and it is preferable that the point at which the reception iscompleted for a visible-light signal received for a previous time pointbe distinctly differentiable from the point at which the receptionbegins for a visible-light signal received for a current time point.Here, since there may be no visible light received at the mobileterminal 230 during rest times that exist between each first period, thelast sub-period of the visible-light signal for the previous time pointand the first sub-period of the visible-light signal for the currenttime point may involve states for transmitting visible light, in orderto differentiate the multiple visible-light signals.

In one example, if the visible-light emission pattern described in FIG.7 is used, a visible-light signal used for localization may take eitherone of the [0 1] pattern and the [1 0] pattern.

In other words, according to an embodiment of the present invention, itmay be preferable that each of the first bit and the last bit of the twoor more bits forming a visible-light signal has high level value (i.e.each of the first and the last of the two or more sub-periods involvesstate for emitting visible light).

In this case, according to an embodiment of the present invention, itmay be preferable that a sampling interval of the internal clock counterbe smaller than the bit interval (i.e. sub-period) forming thevisible-light signal, as illustrated in FIG. 8. This is to increase theaccuracy of localizing the mobile terminal 230, and a smaller samplinginterval of the internal clock counter may enable a more accuratelocalization. For example, the bit interval can be 0.05 μsec, and thesampling interval of the internal clock counter can be 1 nsec.

In a second embodiment of the present invention, the operation describedabove for localizing the mobile terminal using receiving timeinformation relating to when the visible-light signals were received,can be performed directly at the mobile terminal 230 instead of thelocalization server 220.

FIG. 9 schematically illustrates a localization system for a mobileterminal according to a second embodiment of the present invention, andFIG. 10 is a flow diagram illustrating the overall flow of a method forlocalizing a mobile terminal according to the second embodiment of thepresent invention.

Referring to FIG. 9, compared with the localization system 200 accordingto the first embodiment of the present invention described above withreference to FIG. 2, the localization server 920 in a localizationsystem 900 according to the second embodiment of the present inventionmay not include a position computing unit, and the mobile terminal 930may include the position computing unit 933 instead of the transmitterunit. Besides this difference, the other aspects of composition may bekept the same. That is, in this embodiment, the operation of localizingthe mobile terminal 930 can be performed at the position computing unit933 equipped in the mobile terminal 930, not the localization server920.

Referring to FIG. 10, in this case, the operations of steps S1000 toS1030, which are a series of steps for measuring the receiving times ofthe visible-light signals, may be the same as the operations of stepsS300 to S330 described above with reference to FIG. 3, but in thisembodiment, the mobile terminal 930 may not transmit the receiving timeinformation for the visible-light signals to the localization server 920(i.e. steps S332 to S334 of FIG. 3 may not be performed), and maydirectly compute its position in step S1032 using the receiving timeinformation of the measured visible-light signals (consequently, stepsS338 to S340 of FIG. 3 may also be omitted).

Also, although it is not illustrated in FIG. 10, the mobile terminal 930can receive the information used for localizing the mobile terminal 930as described above, i.e. the “information regarding times at which thelocalization server 920 transmitted the transmission instructionmessages to the multiple visible-light transceiver devices 910” and the“distance information regarding distances between the localizationserver 920 and the multiple visible-light transceiver devices 910,” fromthe localization server 920 through the visible-light transceiverdevices 910.

While the present invention has been described above using particularexamples, including specific elements, by way of limited embodiments anddrawings, it is to be appreciated that these are provided merely to aidthe overall understanding of the present invention, the presentinvention is not to be limited to the embodiments above, and variousmodifications and alterations can be made from the disclosures above bya person having ordinary skill in the technical field to which thepresent invention pertains. Therefore, the spirit of the presentinvention must not be limited to the embodiments described herein, andthe scope of the present invention must be regarded as encompassing notonly the claims set forth below, but also their equivalents.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A localization server comprising: a controlunit configured to control transmissions of visible-light signals from aplurality of visible-light transmitting devices; and a positioncomputing unit configured to compute a position of a mobile terminalbased on time information regarding when the visible-light signalstransmitted respectively from the plurality of visible-lighttransmitting devices are received at the mobile terminal, wherein thecontrol unit controls the transmissions such that each of the pluralityof visible-light transmitting devices sequentially transmits thevisible-light signal for a particular first time period with nooverlapping of transmission times of the visible-light signalstransmitted respectively from the plurality of visible-lighttransmitting devices, the time information regarding when thevisible-light signals are received at the mobile terminal includesinformation on any one time point lying within a time segment in which avisible-light signal having a reception strength greater than or equalto a predetermined threshold value is received, the time segment inwhich a visible-light signal having a reception strength greater than orequal to the predetermined threshold value is received comprises a firstreceiving time segment in which a line-of-sight (LOS) visible-lightsignal is received and a second receiving time segment in which anon-line-of-sight (NLOS) visible-light signal is received, and the anyone time point corresponds to a point at which a maximum receptionstrength is measured within the first receiving time segment.
 2. Thelocalization server of claim 1, wherein the control unit sequentiallytransmits a transmission instruction message to each of the plurality ofvisible-light transmitting devices, the transmission instruction messageinstructing the visible-light transmitting device to transmit thevisible-light signal; and each of the plurality of visible-lighttransmitting devices transmits the visible-light signal for the firsttime period from a point of receiving the transmission instructionmessage.
 3. The localization server of claim 2, wherein the positioncomputing unit computes the position of the mobile terminal by usinginformation regarding times at which the control unit transmitted thetransmission instruction messages to the plurality of visible-lighttransmitting devices respectively, distance information regardingdistances between the localization server and the plurality ofvisible-light transmitting devices, and the time information regardingwhen the visible-light signals transmitted respectively from theplurality of visible-light transmitting devices were received at themobile terminal.
 4. The localization server of claim 3, wherein theposition computing unit synchronizes the transmission times of thevisible-light signals transmitted respectively from the plurality ofvisible-light transmitting devices based on the information regardingtimes at which the control unit transmitted the transmission instructionmessages to the plurality of visible-light transmitting devicesrespectively and the distance information regarding distances betweenthe localization server and the plurality of visible-light transmittingdevices, and afterwards computes the position of the mobile terminal byusing differences in times at which the visible-light signalstransmitted respectively from the plurality of visible-lighttransmitting devices were received at the mobile terminal.
 5. Thelocalization server of claim 2, wherein the control unit determines atime for transmitting the transmission instruction message to each ofthe plurality of visible-light transmitting devices in consideration ofat least one of distances from the localization server to the pluralityof visible-light transmitting devices, the first time period for each ofthe plurality of visible-light transmitting devices, and a particularsecond time period for ensuring that there is no overlapping of thevisible-light signals transmitted sequentially from the plurality ofvisible-light transmitting devices respectively.
 6. The localizationserver of claim 1, wherein the first time period is composed of two ormore sub-periods, the visible-light signal is composed of two or morebits corresponding to the two or more sub-periods, the two or more bitseach having one of a high level value and a low level value, the highlevel value corresponding to a transmission of visible light, the lowlevel value corresponding to a non-transmission of visible light, andeach of a first bit and a last bit from among the two or more bits hashigh level value.
 7. The localization server of claim 1, wherein the anyone time point corresponds to a starting point of the time segment inwhich a visible-light signal having a reception strength greater than orequal to the predetermined threshold value is received.
 8. Thelocalization server of claim 1, wherein the any one time pointcorresponds to a point at which a maximum reception strength is measuredwithin the time segment in which a visible-light signal having areception strength greater than or equal to the predetermined thresholdvalue is received.
 9. A method for localizing a mobile terminal, themethod comprising: receiving visible-light signals, the visible-lightsignals sequentially transmitted from a plurality of visible-lighttransceiver devices for a particular first time period such that thereis no overlapping of transmission times; generating receiving timeinformation regarding times at which the sequentially transmittedvisible-light signals are received; and computing a position of themobile terminal by using the receiving time information of thesequentially transmitted visible-light signals, wherein the timeinformation regarding when the visible-light signals are received at themobile terminal includes information on any one time point lying withina time segment in which a visible-light signal having a receptionstrength greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold value isreceived, the time segment in which a visible-light signal having areception strength greater than or equal to the predetermined thresholdvalue is received comprises a first receiving time segment in which aline-of-sight (LOS) visible-light signal is received and a secondreceiving time segment in which a non-line-of-sight (NLOS) visible-lightsignal is received, and the any one time point corresponds to a point atwhich a maximum reception strength is measured within the firstreceiving time segment.